I Finally Have Seen Some TSS in Action

[Davyalabama]

A buddy bought some of the 20 gauge TSS and tried it out yesterday on the board. Oh my goodness, at 40 yards this stuff put up a better pattern than I could have ever dreamed of seeing in person. He didn't buy a bunch of different loads, this stuff isn't cheap is it? He didn't buy 4 or 5 different chokes to try, he just used what he had and voila, a pattern that is almost envious. He was talking he knows he can hit and 50-60 yards with it. My concern, what if he shows up at 10-15 yards, is the pattern going to look like a softball and cause a miss?

If I didn't hunt with old guns exclusively, I might would have to open the piggy bank and try some. Alas, my old guns won't see that stuff, I just use plain old #4's.

 

[CHRIS WILSON]

A buddy bought some of the 20 gauge TSS and tried it out yesterday on the board. Oh my goodness, at 40 yards this stuff put up a better pattern than I could have ever dreamed of seeing in person. He didn't buy a bunch of different loads, this stuff isn't cheap is it? He didn't buy 4 or 5 different chokes to try, he just used what he had and voila, a pattern that is almost envious. He was talking he knows he can hit and 50-60 yards with it. My concern, what if he shows up at 10-15 yards, is the pattern going to look like a softball and cause a miss?

If I didn't hunt with old guns exclusively, I might would have to open the piggy bank and try some. Alas, my old guns won't see that stuff, I just use plain old #4's.

TSS is definitely an improvement for the 20 gauge and no....it's not cheap. I'm using it for the first time this season. Last season, I used Federal Grand Slams with a 1 5/16 oz load of #5 lead shot and a .568 constriction choke. With that combination, it was a good 30 yard gun but I wouldn't have pushed it any further than that. I did manage to take two birds with that combo last season though. This year, I've patterned the Federal TSS with a 1 1/2 oz load of #9 shot. The difference in patterns at any given range compared to the #5 lead is impressive. Currently pairing that load with a .565 constriction choke and so far, it's looks to be a good 40-45 yard killing combination. With a tighter constriction choke, It could probably reach out a bit further but the trade off is of course a tighter pattern when things get really close. Most of my turkey hunting has been in woodland areas where shots can get pretty close but I do have a few areas that are more open, so the extra distance provided by using TSS is going to be nice. The .565 choke appears to be a nice compromise, providing good patterns at 40 yards but not so tight at 20 yards that it feels like I'm shooting a rifle instead of a shotgun. I'm pretty excited about what I've seen on paper in the little bit of pattern testing I've done so far. It'll be interesting to see how this new load and choke combo performs this season in a real world hunting scenario.

 

[30-06 type of guy]

A buddy bought some of the 20 gauge TSS and tried it out yesterday on the board. Oh my goodness, at 40 yards this stuff put up a better pattern than I could have ever dreamed of seeing in person. He didn't buy a bunch of different loads, this stuff isn't cheap is it? He didn't buy 4 or 5 different chokes to try, he just used what he had and voila, a pattern that is almost envious. He was talking he knows he can hit and 50-60 yards with it. My concern, what if he shows up at 10-15 yards, is the pattern going to look like a softball and cause a miss?

If I didn't hunt with old guns exclusively, I might would have to open the piggy bank and try some. Alas, my old guns won't see that stuff, I just use plain old #4's.

I've shot 2 with a .555 in the 15-20 yard range. Just aim a little further down

 

[Huntaholic]

I ordered some from Ray just to try in my Dads old sportsman 11- 48 20ga, factory original MOD barrel. Keep in mind this is a 2.75 chamber gun. What he sent me : load number T2112, its 1 1/2 oz of tss 8 and 9s. AT 40 yards I put I think 155 pellets in a 10 inch circle! Folks Ive shot a BUNCH of 3" 12 gauges that wouldnt come close to that and killed turkeys with them for years! TSS IS the real deal!

 

[muddyboots]

No doubt. It's legit!

 

[timberjack86]

It's bad news in my 410. Patterns better that a 12 gauge with the old turkey loads we used to shoot.

 

[Gobble4me757]

TSS is definitely an improvement for the 20 gauge and no....it's not cheap. I'm using it for the first time this season. Last season, I used Federal Grand Slams with a 1 5/16 oz load of #5 lead shot and a .568 constriction choke. With that combination, it was a good 30 yard gun but I wouldn't have pushed it any further than that. I did manage to take two birds with that combo last season though. This year, I've patterned the Federal TSS with a 1 1/2 oz load of #9 shot. The difference in patterns at any given range compared to the #5 lead is impressive. Currently pairing that load with a .565 constriction choke and so far, it's looks to be a good 40-45 yard killing combination. With a tighter constriction choke, It could probably reach out a bit further but the trade off is of course a tighter pattern when things get really close. Most of my turkey hunting has been in woodland areas where shots can get pretty close but I do have a few areas that are more open, so the extra distance provided by using TSS is going to be nice. The .565 choke appears to be a nice compromise, providing good patterns at 40 yards but not so tight at 20 yards that it feels like I'm shooting a rifle instead of a shotgun. I'm pretty excited about what I've seen on paper in the little bit of pattern testing I've done so far. It'll be interesting to see how this new load and choke combo performs this season in a real world hunting scenario.

Shoot apex or hand loads….I shoot 1 5/8oz loads that are way more consistent than any federal load (I have some federals as backups). I killed this year at 52 already stone dead with my franchi 20 with a trulock .585 non ported choke. It's bad son at close and far.

 

[tntrkkllr]

Shooting 1-5/8 hand loads with an Indian creek out of my 20 gauge 870, it's insane I have shot one as far as 50 and one as close as 10 steps and between, definitely have to be rock steady closer than 25 yards!

 

[Davyalabama]

I ordered some from Ray just to try in my Dads old sportsman 11- 48 20ga, factory original MOD barrel. Keep in mind this is a 2.75 chamber gun. What he sent me : load number T2112, its 1 1/2 oz of tss 8 and 9s. AT 40 yards I put I think 155 pellets in a 10 inch circle! Folks Ive shot a BUNCH of 3" 12 gauges that wouldnt come close to that and killed turkeys with them for years! TSS IS the real deal!

I didn't think those old barrels could hold up to this new stuff.

 

[knightrider]

I didn't think those old barrels could hold up to this new stuff.

Ive got an old win 37 full barrel that will do 180-200 in the 10 with apex 23/4 13/8 oz #9

 

[Creek bottoms]

Old, fixed full chokes pattern great with TSS.

 

[Layne]

I've shot it in my 12 ga. before but this is the first year to hunt with a 20 ga, I rolled some 1 5/8oz 9.5 shot and I can say it is definitely a game changer for a 20 ga... Not so much in the 12 ga. for me other than shooting a smaller shot.

 

[Andy S.]

Welcome to the club. TSS is definitely a game changer in sub-gauge shotguns.

 

[Davyalabama]

Welcome to the club. TSS is definitely a game changer in sub-gauge shotguns.

No, I'm not joining the club, I've just witnessed it in action. I'm carrying too old of guns for this new stuff. I don't want to hurt the barrels on my old guns.

 

[Smells Like Sulfur]

I didn't think those old barrels could hold up to this new stuff.

From what I understand, it's fine to use in an older barrel, as long as it has an appropriate shot cup. I've shot Tungsten out of my muzzleloader before, and as far as I can tell, with the shot cup, it's caused no perceptible damage.

Without a shot cup, or with a weak cup, the shot could definitely score and damage the barrel. I'd imagine this to be true with modern guns as well, tungsten is probably hard enough to scratch the barrel of just about anything.